Process for obtaining a size reduction of non-lamellar materials



United States Patent 3,476,576 PROCESS FOR OBTAINING A SIZE REDUCTION OF NON-LAMELLAR MATERIALS Paul S. Sennett, Macon, Kenneth Lamar Turner, Gordon, and Horton Harold Morris, Macon, Ga., assignors to Freeport Sulphur Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware No Drawing. Filed Jan. 26, 1967, Ser..No. 611,836

, The portion of the term of the patent subsequent to Mar. 2, 1982, has been disclaimed Int. Cl. C09c 1/02; C09d 7/08; C08h 17/04 v U.S. Cl. 106-309 i 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A process for reducing the particle size of a nonlamellar mineral. An aqueous slurry'of the mineral is agitated with particles of a nonabrasive resilient grinding media. The grinding media has a specific gravity less than two and a particle size smaller than one quarter inch but larger than 200 mesh in diameter.

The present invention relates to a process for effecting a size reduction of non-lamellar minerals, including aggregates of non-lamellar minerals. Ourinvention is particularly useful for effecting a size reduction of nonlamellar talc and non-lamellar calcium carbonate and of reducing the viscosity .of ua calcium .carbonate dispersion. i v

. It is very desirable that pigmented coating mixes being applied to paper have a relatively low viscosity. Paper is normally coated at very high speeds, so the coatingmix must be thin enough to flow smoothly onto thesheet and so give a uniform coating. The viscosity 'of pigmented coating. mixes may be lowered by the addition of water but this procedure adds significantly to the cost of the operation since this Water must be subsequently removed by thermal evaporation. Some calcium carbonates, although a satisfactory paper coating pigment in other respects, are so viscous when incorporated into a coating formula that they cannot be used. c

' Non-lamellar minerals are in a distinct category. Thus lamellar minerals are those crystalline materials :which show a pronounced cleavage perpendicular to 1 (and only one) crystalline axis. This arises as a result of much weaker bonding forcesparallel to this-particular crystallographic axis, When subjected to stress these lamellar materials tend to break along the planes where the bonding energy between adjacent planes is weakest. In contrast non-lamellar minerals do not show a pronounced cleavage perpendicular to one erystaniheaxrs: As a 'rsul't' non-lamellar minerals are not cleaved readily. t L Non-lamellar calcium carbonate is a mineral having -The term"talc, as it is-used=i-nthis-application, is intended tot include also a number of silicate minerals having physical properties similar to the true talc mineral.

For example, since talc and pyrophyllite. havesimilar...

"physical properties and end uses they are not consid'- ered separately for statistical evaluation in the annual Minerals Yearbook published by the U.S. Bureau of -Mines. The talc of commerce may be a relatively pure talc 3,476,576 Patented Nov. 4, 1969 Kit? mineral or anthophyllite, pyrophyllite, serpentine or tremolite or mixtures of these minerals. In addition, commercial talcs may be contaminated with varying amounts of accessory minerals such as magnesite, dolomite, calcite, diopside, chlorite and quartz.

As mined, talc and calcium carbonate are in the form of rocklike lumps that, for most commercial applications, must be ground to varying degrees of fineness depending on their intended end use. Frequently a purification process such as hand sorting of the crude material or flotation of the ground material must be used. The cost of grinding contributes appreciably to the cost of converting the raw ore into a commercially useful product. The crude ore, after preliminary crushing, is usually dry ground in ball or roller mills and air-floated to give the desired fine particles.

Ultra-fine talcs are produced by further grinding in fluid energy mills, the cost of fluid energy grinding adding significantly to the overall processing cost due to the high energy requirements of the grinding method.

Talc and calcium carbonate may exist in several forms including the granular and fibrous forms. A market for such minerals as well as other non-lamellar minerals exists in the field of paper coatings. Thus, it is common practice in the paper industry to coat paper with a mixture of pigment and adhesive in order to provide a smooth surface for printing. High quality reproduction of color photography requires a surface smoother than can normally be obtained from paper pulp alone. Although non-lamellar talc, calcium carbonate and other non-lamellar materials as non-lamellar barium sulfate, titanium dioxide and zinc oxide have been used to some extent as a pigment in paper coatings, it has been found necessary to finely grind these materials prior to their use with an adhesive. This can be burdensome and time consuming.

An object of the present invention is to provide a process for obtaining size reduction of non-lamellar minerals, including aggregates of non-larnellar materials, which minerals are suitable as pigments and extenders in oil and water base systems and in paper coatings.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide. an efiicient low cost means for obtaining size reduction of talc.

Still another object of the present invention .is to provide a process for lowering the viscosity of a calcium .carbonate slurry, and for obtaining a size reduction of calcium carbonate particles.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description and examples.

' In'ac'cordance with the present invention, a liquid slurry of a mineral, the particles of the mineral generally being of minus 20 mesh, are subjected to a milling in the absence of any adhesive but in the presence of a fine milling media, to break up aggregates of the mineral and reduce particle size. Removal of the media yields an extender and pigment that is excellent for use in paints and in other products; moreover the pigment brightness is not affected by our process. e

The mineral used in our process can bea relatively coarse non-lamellar talc, non-lamellar calcium carbonate and/or certain non-lamellar minerals, i.e,, those non- "lamellar minerals suitable as pigments or extenders in the paint or paper industries, e.g., barium sulfate, titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. Calcium carbonate and particularlytalc are preferred in our process.

The milling media is a fine, non-abrasive, resilient grinding media. The milling action is a combination of viscous shear milling due to agitation of the mixture of L liquid, milling media and the mineral; percussive milling due to the multiplicity of impacts of the fine media with itself and the mineral; and fractional milling produced by combination of the rubbing action of the fine media to itself and f the fine media to the mineral. These three simultaneously occurring milling actions bring about particles size reduction of the mineral. It should be understood that our milling procedure not only makes previously unusable minerals suitable for commercial use but also may further improve commercially available products. The degree of milling to be employed in our process will vary depending upon the size and shape of the milling container and also upon the type of agitating device, e.g. the design and pitch of the blades. The agitation also may be carried out by stirring, tumbling, shaking, rocking and the like. In general about a total energy input of 0.05 horsepower-hours per gallon of mixture will bring about the desired result.

The nonabrasive resilient grinding media employed in our invention is preferably made of a plastic such as nylon, polyethylene or a styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer. Similar materials having approximately the same hardness, resiliency, and chemical inertness may also be used. The use of such grinding media avoids objectionable abrasion of the milling apparatus that may occur if nonplastic media such as sand or metal balls are used.

The resilient grinding media may take a number of shapes such as spheres or cylindrical pellets. The media should have a specific gravity less than two. Also the individual particles should be smaller than A inch in diameter but larger than 200 mesh in diameter.

Materials found especially suitable for the milling process include to 40 mesh styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer spherical beads and A3 inch diameter by A2 inch long cylindrical nyion pellets.

Generally about to 70 volume percent of the aqueous mineral slurry, preferably to volume percent of the aqueous slurry is occupied with the grinding media.

The milling can be carried out in either a batch r continuous manner; the mineral generally being slurried in water. A chemical dispersant or wetting agent or both may be added to the liquid mineral slurry prior to the addition of the resilient grinding media. Liquids other than water may be used to provide a fluid medium for the mineral in the fine media milling process. When the process is carried out on a continuous basis, a portion of the partially ground mineral may be removed from the milling tank, the fine particle size mineral already produced removed from the partially ground mineral by gravity or centrifugal separation techniques. The remaining unground coarse fraction is returned to the milling tank.

4 EXAMPLE 1 A 612 gram portion of the Asbestine 3X fibrous talc (International Talc Co., New York, NY.) was slurried in 1,430 grams of water containing 6.12 grams of Igepal CO-630, a non-ionic wetting agent (General Aniline and Film Corporation, New York, NY.) and 3.06 grams of tetrasodium pyrophosphate. Then 1836 grams of 1850 mesh styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer beads were added and the whole mixture stirred vigorously with a propellertype stirrer for one hour in a polyethylene container. Following this treatment, the styrene-divinylbenzene beads were removed by screening. The talc was recovered from suspension by filtering and drying and found to have the following properties:

325 mesh screen residue, percent 0.39 Percent less than 20 microns Percent less than 10 microns 84 Percent less than 5 microns 69 /2 Percent less than 2 microns 50 /2 In comparison with the above results, when the original Asbestine 3X was ball milled by conventional methods for five hours, the product had only 33 /2% of its particles less than 2 microns.

EXAMPLE 2 A 1 lb., 14 02. sample of Ruby 400 B talc (American Chemet Corporation, W. Madison Street, Chicago, Illinois), was slurried with water at 20% solids, no dispersant being added. Sufficient 18 to 50 mesh styrenedivinylbenzene copolymer beads were added to give a slurry in which the beads occupied 50 percent of the volume. The whole mixture was then agitated vigorously for 1 hour with a cross-arm type impeller. During the agitation period the temperatureof the batch increased from 78 F. to F. Following the milling the slurry was screened through a 200 mesh screen to remove the plastic beads. One half of the slurry was then allowed to stand undisturbed for a length of time equivalent to 3 minutes per inch of depth of slurry in the container in order to allow any coarse particles to settle to the bottom of the container. After the sedimentation period, the fine fraction of the talc (that which still remained in suspension) was recovered by careful decantation. Less than 10% of the material settled out during the sedimentation. Both talc products (the sample obtained directly from the milling as well as the sample from the sedimentation step) was recovered by filtration and drying. The products and starting materials had the following particle size distri- 50 bution:

Milled Starting Fractionated Material (sample from (Not Not sedimentation treated) fractionated step) Percent less than 20 microns 82% 100 100 Percent less than 10 microns 633/ 100 100 Percent less than 5 microns. 43 97 99 Percent less than 2 microns 26% 72% 75% Percent less than 1 micron 17 46% 50 The following examples are given to aid in understanding the invention. It is to be understood that the inven-- tion is not restricted to the specific compositions or conditions given in the examples. Said examples are rather only illustrative and should not be construed as limiting the invention which is properly delineated in the appended claims.

All three. samples of talc were incorporated at 2.15 lbs./ gallon into a standard 5'5 pigment volume concentration polyvinyl acetate latex paint system containing 1.5 lbs. per gallon of rutile titanium dioxide. The table below summarizes the significant properties of the paints containing these tales.

The increase in contrast ratio of both milled samples over that of the starting material is of significant value since higher contrast ratios denote paints of greater. substrate hiding ability.

EXAMPLE 3 remaining in suspension was removed by careful decantation. Both of the milled samples were recovered from the water slurry by filtration and drying. The pigments had the following properties:

Following the sedimentation period, the finer fraction 5 A paper coating formulation was made up using 16 Mmed parts of a casein adhesive to 100 parts of pigment and Ball sufficient water to give a coating composition containing 3 3; gggg ig; 35% total solids. When coated on paper, the coatings made with the untreated talc and the milled fractionated 2x83 38 38%,; 3% 188 l 1 talc of the previous example had the following properties. 32222 i; /2 $8 Percent less than 5 microns 47 74 98 StartingMaterial Percent less than 2 mierons 23 60 89 Percent less than 1 micron 49% 7 Starting 15 iiffii Mined When incorporated at 2.15 lbs/gallon into a standard treated) Fmctimmted 55% pigment volume concentration polyvinyl acetate latex Glossuncalendered 2 1o paint system containing 1.5 lbs. per gallon of rutile ti- GIOSS, calendefed 43 54 tanium dioxide, the three talcs gave a paint film having As shown in the above table, a significant increase in gloss followmg propemes' was obtained with the milled fraction. Contrast ratio 89 7 9&8 912 EXAMPLE 4 rif i f1 2% i313 i333 Three commercial fibrous talcs differing mainly in par- Enamel holdout ticle size (Asbestine X, Asbestine 3X and Asbestine 425 EXAMPLE 6 from the International Talc Co.) were slurried with water at 20% solids, no dispersant being added. Sufficient 18 A sample of ground limestone (Tatewhite from the to 50 mesh styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer beads were Georgia Marble Co., Tate, Georgia) was slur-ried in water added to give a slurry in which the beads occupied 50 at solids with 0.5% (based on the weight of the percent of the volume. The whole mixture was then agi- 30 ground limestone) tetrasodium yrophosphate added as tated vigorously for 1 hour with a cross-arm type impeller. a dispersant. Cylindrical nylon pellets, A inch diameter Following the milling the slurry was screened through a by /10 inch long, were added to give a total of 5 parts 200 mesh screen to remove the plastic beads. The change by weight of ground limestone. The whole mixture was in particle size distribution is shown in the following table: agitated by shaking on a Red Devil paint shaker for Asbestine X Asbestine 3X Asbestine 425 Not Not Not Milled Milled Milled Milled Milled Milled Percent less than 44 microns. 98%; 100 100 100 100 100 Percent less than 30 microns. 82 94 99 100 100 100 Percent less than 20 microns 69 86 91 95 100 100 Percent less than 10 microns. 49% 67 64V 87 942.6 100 Percent less than 5 microns- 33 4321; 6926 80 88 Percent less than 2 microns 36 26 52 56 70 Percent less than 1 micron 10% 26 22 37 44 When incorporated at 2.15 lbs/gallon into a standard 3 hours in a polyethylene container. The ground lime- 55% pigment volume concentration polyvinyl acetate stone was recovered from the slurry (after screening out latex paint system containing 1.5 lbs. per gallon of rutile the nylon pellets) by filtration and drying. Both the untitanium dioxide, the contrast ratio of the paints made treated and treated limestones were incorporated into a with the milled talcs was improved significantly as shown 50 paper coating composition containing 16 /2 parts by by the following table: Weight of casein adhesive to 100 parts by weight of lime- Asbestine X 91 stone- A comparison of the properties of the untreated Asbgstine X, mined 965 and treated hmestones is shown below: Asbestine 3X 93.5 55 Asbestine 3X, milled 98 Untreated Treated Asbestine 425 Stormer Viscosity, sec.: Asbestine 425, milled 98 0- EXAMPLE 5 l 2%: 13 A sample of crude Montana talc ore was crushed in Egg? 3 8 a laboratory jaw crusher so that the maximum size of Percentlsiirhiib'mremns--- I 39 '16 the individual particles was about A inch. The crushed Coated paper'umal'gloss 3 3 talc Was then ball milled dry for 2 hours using /2 inch diameter balls and screened through a 10 mesh sieve. A The Stormer viscosity readings are expressed as the portion of the minus 10 mesh material was milled for number of seconds required for a spindle to make 100 4 hours in a laboratory milling unit with 18 to 50 mesh revolutions under the driving force of a 150 gram weight. styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer beads. The talc-water NC indicates no check, i.e., the slurry was so viscous slurry contained 17.5% by weight talc. The ratio 'of that the spindle would not revolve. The percent figures volume of beads to volume of talc plus water was 1.28 in connection with the Stormer Viscosity show the perto 1. No dispersants or wetting agents were used. A porcent solids at which the Stormer Viscosity was measured. tion of the talc was allowed to stand undisturbed for a The figures are weight percent solids, e.g., 72 g. of clay period of time equivalent to 3 minutes per inch of depth and 28 g. of water give 72% solids slurry. of slurry in the container in order to allow any unmilled The viscosity reduction in the treated limestone slurry coarse particles to settle to the bottom of the container. 75 Was unexpected in view of the non-lamellar characteristics of the limestone.

Coated paper, uncal. brightness 7 EXAMPLE 7 A sample of a commercial precipitated calcium carbonate, Purecal T (Wyandotte Chemical Co.) was slurried in water at 27% solids with 1.0% (based on the weight of calcium carbonate) tetrasodium pyrophosphate added as a dispersant. Cylindrical nylon pellets, fl'oinch diameter by inch long, were added to give a total of 5 parts by weight of calcium carbonate. The whole mixture was agitated for 3 hours by shaking on a Red 'Devil paint shaker in a polyethylene container. The treated carbonate was recovered from the slurry (after screening out the nylon pellets) by filtration and drying. Both the untreated and treated samples were incorporated into a paper coating composition containing 16 /2 parts by weight of casein adhesive'to 100 parts by weight of calcium carbonate. A comparison of the properties of the untreated and treated carbonates is shown below:

Untreated Treated Stormer Viscosity, Sec;

The above data show that the treatment gave a product of significantly lower viscosity and higher gloss when coated on paper.

EXAMPLE 8 A sample of precipitated calcium carbonate was slurried in Water at 35% solids and 0.5% (based on the Weight of calcium carbonate) tetrasodium pyrophosphate added as adispersant. Cylindrical nylon pellets, A inch diameter by A inch long, were added to give a total of parts by weight nylon to 3 partsby weight'of calcium carbonate. The whole mixture was agitated by shaking on the Red Devil paintshaker for 3 hours. The treated calcium carbonate was recovered (after screening to remove the nylon) by filtration and drying. Both the untreated and treated calcium carbonate samples were incorporated into a paper coating composition containing 16 /2 parts by weight of casein adhesive to 100 parts by weight of calcium carbonate. A comparison of the properties of the untreated and treated limestones showed the following:

Untreated Treated Stormer Viscosity, see:

Percent less than 2 Coated paper, uncal. gloss The above data show that our process gave a product of significantly lower viscosity and higher gloss when coated on paper.

EXAMPLE 9 A sample of precipitated calcium carbonate was slurried in water at 35% solids with 0.5% (based on the weight of calcium carbonate) tetrasodium pyrophosphate added as a dispersant. Cylindrical nylon pellets, 5 inch diameter by inch long, were added to give a total of 5 parts by weight nylon to 3 parts by weight of calcium carbonate. The whole mixture was agitated 5 hours by shaking on a Red Devil paint shakerjThe treated carbonate was recovered from the slurry (after'screening out the nylon pellets) by filtration and drying. Both the untreated and treated samples were incorporated into a paper coating composition containing 16 /2 parts by weight casein adhesive to 100 parts by weight calcium carbonate. A comparison of the properties of the untreated and treated samples is shown below:

Untreated Treated Stormer Viscosity, see:

72% 39 17 65%. NC 8 55% v 7 Percent less than 2 microns 48 48 Coated paper, uneal. gloss r 3 3 A 2500 g. crude aragonite calcium carbonate sample which consists of aggregates of.fine. needle-like.particles cemented together (the aggregates can be as large as several millimeters although the. aragonite needles of which they are composed are largely 1 micron or less in size) was treated by milling for 45 minutes with inch diameter by inch long cylindrical nylon pellets. On a volume basis the aragonite occupied /6 of the volume of the charge, water occupied of thevolume and the nylon pellets occupied /2 ofv the volume. Following this treatment, the nylon pellets were removed by screening and the aragonite dispersed by the addition of 0.40% (based on the weight of aragonite) tetrasodium pyrophosphate.

Water was added to dilute the aragonite slurry and the whole sample was allowed to stand undisturbed in order to allow the coarse particles to settle. The fractionation was allowed to proceed for a period of time equivalent to 45 minutes per inch of depth of slurry. The fine fraction still remaining in suspension was recovered by careful decantation. This fine fraction represented of the original crude aragonite and, after appropriate chemical treatment to increase its brightness, was found suitable as a paper coating pigment and as a paint extender pigment. A sample of the same crude aragonite when subjected to ordinary blunging and dispersion techniques gave only a 57% yield to a 40 minute perinch fine fraction.

For brevity, various features have been illustrated and described in connection with a limited number of illustrative embodiments. It is intended that these features be used also in combination with features shown in other embodiments without departing from the spirit of the invention. 7 q

The terms and expressions that have been employed in the specification are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, since it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. Process of preparing an improved pigment and extender for the paper and paint industries comprising agirating, in the absence of any adhesive, an aqueous slurry of a non-lamellar mineral and obtaining a particle size reduction of the mineral, said slurry containing 30-70 volume percent of particles of a nonabrasive resilient grinding media having a specific gravity less than two, said particles being smaller than one quarter inch but larger than 200 mesh in diameter.

2. Process according to claim 1 wherein the media is removed subsequent to the agitation.

3. Process for obtaining a particle size reduction of talc and obtaining an improved pigment and extender for the paper and paint industries comprising agitating, in the absence of any adhesive, an aqueous slurry of the tale, said slurry containing 30-70 volume percent of particles of a nonabrasive resilient grinding media having a specific gravity less than tWo, said particles being smaller than one quarter inch but larger than 200 mesh in diameter, said agitation causing at least about 33 /2% of resultant talc particles to be less than 2 microns in particle diameter.

4. Process according to claim 3 wherein the media is removed subsequent to the agitation.

5. Process for obtaining an aqueous slurry of calcium carbonate of low viscosity comprising agitating, in the absence of any adhesive, an aqueous slurry of calcium carbonate and obtaining a particle size reduction of calcium carbonate, said slurry containing 30-7O volume percent of particles of a nonabrasive resilient grinding media having a specific gravity less than two, said particles being smaller than one quarter inch but larger than 200 mesh in diameter, said agitation causing a reduction in the viscosity of the calcium carbonate slurry.

6. Process according to claim 5 wherein the media is removed subsequent to the agitation.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,171,718 3/1965 Gunn et al 106309 JAMES E. POER, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

3 33 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3, 7 ,57 Dated November 4, 1969 Inventor-(s) Paul o Sennett, et 81.

It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Col. 1, lines 9, l0, Cancel "The portion of the term of the patent subsequent to Mar. 2,

1982, has been disclaimed" SIGNED AND SEALED @EAL Auesu sua'umm, JR. Attenmg Officer Oomiaaionor of Patents 

